


Mother Knows Best

by teamcap4bucky



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Father-Daughter Relationship, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2018-11-20
Packaged: 2019-08-26 17:01:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16685599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teamcap4bucky/pseuds/teamcap4bucky
Summary: All you wanted to do was to be an Avenger, just like your dad. Was that to much to ask?





	Mother Knows Best

‘Caplan Disney challenge  
Summary: All you wanted to do was to be an Avenger, just like your dad. Was that to much to ask?  
This was written for Caplan’s Disney Challenge. This is my first fic based on a song, so forgive me if it sucks. The song lyrics are all in italics.  
My song was “Mother knows best” from Rapunzel.  
Word Count: 2,470  
Pairings. Tony x reader (father/ daughter) Steve x reader  
Warnings: One swear maybe, mentions of death.

 

“You want to go outside? Why, Rapunzel!”

Rapunzel. You hated that nickname. He had given it to you as a child. It was your favorite fairy tail, and you always pretended you were her during playtime. It was cute when you were young, you loved it. Now, it’s just a reminder that Tony will always treat you like a child.

“Look at you, as fragile as a flower, still a little sapling, just a sprout.” He taps your head with his palm, condescendingly before turning back to his work.

 

“Tony! Please, I’m not fifteen anymore, I’m an adult, and I’ve been training for years. I can’t stay in the tower on light duty anymore. I’m going out of my mind.”

“Oh, so it’s Tony now? What happened to dad?” He stands up, taking the flashlight off of his head, tossing it to the side of his lab table.

“Dad is overprotective, and unreasonable. Tony has fun once in awhile, and is encouraging.” 

“You know why we stay up in this tower?” He questions in an almost angry tone. 

“Umm, Hydra?” His eyes shoot towards you like daggers. “Hydra this, Hydra that. It’s always about Hydra.” His jaw clenches, his anger slowly seeping to the surface. Maybe that was too far. Even so, you roll your eyes, knowing what he wants to hear. “It’s to keep me safe. I know but…”

“That's right, to keep you safe and sound, dear.” 

“You can’t keep me locked up in the penthouse forever. It’s not normal. Please, Tony… dad.” 

“Guess, I always knew this day was coming. Knew that soon you'd want to leave the nest.” He approaches you cautiously.

He holds your arms, looking deep into your eyes. He was once you, and he knows what it’s like to feel the overwhelming need to prove your worth. To make a name for yourself, and to not just be the “child of a genius.” 

“Soon, but not yet.” He can’t do it. He’s not ready.

“But.” 

“Shh! Trust me, pet. Mother knows best.” Mother. That was the name he gave himself when the kids at school made fun of you. I’ll be your mom and your dad, he said. When you need advice and protection, mom it is. When it’s time to hit the books and learn, well, that’s where cool dad takes over. 

“Did she? I think when she left me here, she thought I would ‘grow up’ under the great ‘Stark’ name, and have a better shot at life. Guess she didn’t realize I would just be ‘growing up’ under a staircase, hidden from the world, like a dirty secret.” 

Mother knows best

 

“First off, you hardly live under a staircase. Second, you need to just listen to your mother. It's a scary world out there, which you know nothing about!” He throws a wrench onto the table, growing frustrated at your conversation. 

“Is it? I wouldn’t know, I’m not allowed to leave the tower.”

“Y/N, please. Just… not now, okay?” He mumbles under his breath. 

Mother knows best

“One way or another, something will go wrong. I swear, if anything were to happen to you!” Steve folds his arms as he leans against the conference room table. 

Ruffians and thugs, poison ivy, quicksand  
Cannibals and snakes, the plague

 

“Hydra, enhanced, double crossing agents, guns, knives. It’s all out there, Y/N, just waiting to hurt you.” 

“No! Will you just…”

“Yes! I know, I see it every time we go out on a mission.”

“But.”

Also large bugs  
Men with pointy teeth, and...

 

“Stop, no more!” Steve demands. In his head he’s begging you to stop asking. “Have you talked to Tony about this? What are his feelings, do I need to speak to him?” 

That was the last thing you wanted. They had just started speaking again after the whole division of the teams. Although, this may bring them closer, them fighting together for a common goal. You definitely didn’t want that.

“Sure, why not, you'll just upset me in the end, too.” 

Mother's right here  
Mother will protect you

 

“Darling, here's what I suggest, Skip the drama. Go out and have a movie night, gossip about… boys and such. Go check out that new restaurant everyone is talking about. Better yet, stay in with the girls, eat popcorn and snacks, give each other pedicures, or whatever it is you girls do these days. Just be safe, here. We can even hang out in the lab if you want.” 

“The girls are on a mission, because that is what ‘they do’ these days, which is where I would be if you would let me.” 

Stay with mama  
Mother knows best

 

“You know what, fine. Go ahead, get trampled by a rhino in Wakanda with Bucky. Go ahead, get mugged and left for dead with Sam. Me? I'm just your mother, and your father, but what do I know? I only bathed, and changed, and nursed you, took you in and raised you as as my own.”

“I am your own! Don’t try and guilt me by being all pissy. It’s not my fault you had way to many nights of unprotected sex with every floozy in the city! I didn’t ask for this life, it was thrust upon me. How can I not want to grow up and do this? All my life, I just wanted to be like my dad. Don’t you get that? I know you and grandpa…”

“Howard.” He says shortly

“Dad…” You tilt your head, knowing it was a sensitive subject, but if he could just see. “I know you had your differences, just like us, but didn’t you just want to be like him, do what he did...make him proud? Make him… notice you, prove to him that you had good in you too?” 

“Nothing I did was ever good enough for him. I was never going to be as good as your boyfriend.” 

“Come on dad, that’s not fair. You can’t blame Steve for your failed relationship with him.”

”You can’t fail at a relationship is there was never was one to begin with, and I will always blame Steve, because it’s true.”

“This is complete crap, you know that right?”

“You know what, go ahead and leave me, I deserve it. Let me die alone here, be my guest!”

“Dad, you’re being really dramatic. No one is going to die, and you’re not alone.”

“When it's too late, you'll see, just wait. Wait until you really see what’s out there waiting for you. You think it’s easy...what we do? You think it’s a cake walk for Steve? You have no idea what you are asking of me, of us. We just want to keep you safe, don’t you get it?” 

Mother knows best, Take it from your mumsy

“He’s right you know? Everything he says, every reason he gives you. He’s right, and I have to agree with him. I don’t want you out there with us. It’s to dangerous. I can’t do my job, knowing you’re out there in harm’s way.” Steve paces back and forth.

“Are you seriously going to take his side? Jesus, it’s like I have to overly obnoxious mother hens, who won’t stop clucking beak fulls of bullshit at me. I thought you would at least be willing to hear me out, Steve.”

“You know I will always hear you out, I’m listening.”

“No, your not, neither of you are. You would rather me stay cooped up like an inmate than me at least try to help out. I can do some good out there. Get out, fight the good fight. I’m not asking you to bring me into the belly of the beast, but even something local would be enough. I can do this, I know I can.”

“Y/N… No, I, I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“I’m doing it, with or without you, Steve. I’ll go to Fury myself. I don’t need you guys to vouch for me. I’ll do it on my own.”

“On your own, you won't survive.” 

“Guess that’s on your conscious, not mine.”

“Sloppy, underdressed, immature, clumsy!” Natasha yells out to the other recruits. “Please, they'll eat you up alive.” She scoffs as she looks up and down at a young man, who can barely maintain eye contact with her. “You at least show promise.” She takes you in from head to toe as she strolls by the line of agents. 

‘Gullible, naive, positively grubby, Ditzy and a bit, well, hmm, vague.” 

“Let me see that!” You rush to your father’s side, attempting to grab your case file out of his hands.

“Plus, I believe gettin' kinda chubby.” He holds it off to the side, while holding your head like a bratty older brother would.

“It does not say that!” You give him a quick jab to his ribs.

“It says so right here, direct from Fury.”

“It says I excell above other recruits, and with your permission, as well as a recommendation from Steve, I can go.” 

“I’m just saying 'cause I love you, that this is a horrible idea.” 

You stand in front of him, rigid and strong. Forcing a paper his way, you make your voice heard. “Sign it.”

 

“It hurts.” You grit your teeth at the pain, as Steve pulls a stray bullet from your thigh.

Mother understands

“I know, sweetie, we’re going to get you all fixed up. No worries. Bruce, drugs!” Tony yells through the compound med bay.

Mother's here to help you

“What happened? Who did it?” He demands answers, looking to his teammates. “I knew it! I knew this would happen. I told you this was a bad idea, but no, you had to keep going, wouldn’t shut up for two goddamn seconds about it.”

“Tony! Stop. It wasn’t her fault. It was an accident.” Steve tightens the bandages, holding pressure to your thigh. 

“Of course it was! There is always an accident. Someone always comes back hurt, or worse, almost dead, on every damn mission!”

“It was a stray bullet from one of our own. New recruit, saw a situation head south, tried to help.” 

“Help with what? Putting her in the grave faster than she would have done herself?”

“Stop yelling at him! It’s not his fault!” 

“The hell it’s not! He signed the damned form!” He throws his arm in Steve’s direction.

“You did too!” You yell back.

“Against my better judgment, but no more. You’re done, you’re off the team.”

“No, that’s not fair!” You sit up quickly, the motion jarring your leg. You grimace in pain. 

“You know what kiddo, you’re right, life’s not fair. It wasn’t fair that I had a shit father growing up, it wasn’t fair that your mother dropped a kid at my doorstep, and it’s not fair that I have to deal with this shit with you right now! So, no, life’s not fair, and the sooner you get that through your thick head, the sooner…”

The monitors around you begin to scream out, as your pulse drops, pressures tank, and your thigh begins to pulsate, blood soaking through you bandages. Steve grabs you as you start to lose consciousness, cradling you so your head doesn’t hit the table. 

“Y/N?” Tony slams his palm onto your wound, packing it with gauze, as Bruce feeds you IV meds, grabbing the defibrillator, ready to charge if needed.

“Y/N! Stay with me, sweetie. Bruce, we’re losing a lot of blood here. Steve, take over, we need more bandages. Grab the XStat!”

He begins to tap your face, framing your face in his hands. 

“Y/N/N, honey... please, you got to wake up. Come on Rapunzel. You can do it. I can’t lose you kid, come on. It’s just you and me, you can’t leave your old man. I need ya kiddo. You’re the only reason I get out of bed each day. Come on, fight it.” He fights back tears, fearing the worst. 

“Her bleeding is slowing down. Her heart rate is stabilizing. Keep holding, Steve.”

Tony watches the monitor, counting every beat of your heart, analyzing numbers, checking each stat individually. He’s so hyper focused on your vitals that he doesn’t notice you reaching for his hand. 

“Tony.” Steve calls to him and his voice seems like it’s a distant sound, barely recognizable in his head. “Tony!”

He breaks concentration for a second, and watches Steve signal towards you. Your hand so fragile, reaching out for your father, unable to see him, but his presence known. 

“That’s my girl.” 

He sat by your bed for two days, refusing to sleep, eat, speak, until he knew you were safe. 

Your face pale, your body weak. You open your eyes to a bright light above your head, an incessant beeping to the left of you, and the feel of tape ripping skin off of your hand. 

“Hi.” Is all he says, his eyes filling with tears, as he lifts your tiny hand to his lips.

“I’m so sorry, daddy.” Tears make their way down to your cheeks, as he rubs his free hand through your hair.

“No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. Any of it. I was just…”

“I know. It’s okay. I’m sorry I pushed you.”

“I thought I was going to lose you. I heard the flatline, and all I could see…” He rubs his eyes, and looks up at the ceiling, trying to collect his thoughts. “I just saw you, my little girl, in her bassinet, just holding onto my pinky. So little, so fragile. My entire life…you’re all I have. You’re the only thing that I ever let in. I almost lost it all, and all I could think of, was that you were going to die, and the last thing I said to you, was that I didn’t want you. I could have never lived with myself if you…”

“I didn’t mean to scare you.” You squeeze his hands, coughing a bit from your dry throat.

“I know you didn’t, sweetheart.” You watch, as another stream of tears fall from his eyes. “But hear me out, okay? All I have is one request. My beautiful, Rapunzel?”

“Yes?”

“Don't ever ask to leave this tower again.” You both huff out a small sigh, the simplest of smiles grace both your mouths. 

“Yes, mother.” You nod at him. Not willing to argue anymore, at least not today, after seeing the toll it had taken on your father.

“I love you very much, dear. Even if I don’t always show it.”

“I love you more, pops.”

“I love you most. Don't forget it. You'll regret it.”

I guess he was right. Well, maybe just this one time at least. After all, Mother knows best.


End file.
